Rendition | Omar Metwally, Reese Witherspoon | Good Shot At An Uneasy Subject

Rendition | Omar Metwally, Reese Witherspoon | Rendition

DVDs:

Rendition

	Rendition Omar Metwally, Reese Witherspoon New Line Home Video, 2008 average customer review:based on 73 reviews view larger image
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Good Shot At An Uneasy Subject

An important film. A good film, A film that deserves a watch regardless of the somewhat negative reviews. It's plodding and sometimes slow moving as several interconnected stories unfold somewhat simultaneously. What's even more important is that with the DVD comes a short documentary, OUTLAW, which makes the film even more important on the reality level and which might raise some questions about those people "in charge" is the film doesn't. But, watch it after viewing the film.

Rendition

The Greatest thrilling moivies of the year with good documentary and referent event. Stars Cast on the rols were perfect.

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The Theory and Practice of Torture &Personal Responsibility

"'Rendition'-This is being done in our name. People who are suspected for any reason, or no good reason, of being terrorists can be snatched from their lives and transported to another country to be held without charge and tortured for information. Because the torture is conducted by professionals in those countries, our officials can blandly state that "America does not torture." This practice, known as an "extraordinary rendition," was authorized, I am sorry to say, under the Clinton administration. After 9/11, there is reason to believe the Bush administration uses it frequently." Roger Ebert

I tried very hard to like this film. It had all the right elements, star power- Meryl Streep, a storyline that is familiar to us, and wonderful direction. What was missing is a believable story line. The war in Iraq, a bombing that disrupts the lives of all involved, an American Egyptian who is seemingly innocent and mysteriously disappears and turns up being tortured in an unnamed country. The US head of intelligence is played by Meryl Streep, and she is flawless as a neocon using torture to fight terrorism. We get right down to the nitty gritty of torture, water boarding, electrical stimulation and beating after beating,. Meanwhile in the US, the innocent man's wife, Reese Witherspoon is on the path to solve the mystery of her missing husband. At this point much of the reality loses base. The US Intelligence officer in this country is left to an inexperienced young man played by Jake Gyllenhaal. He is an observer of the torture along with the head of the torturing committee, Igal Naor. Igal's daughter is caught up in an affair with one of this country's young male extremists. And this is where the story goes astray. The film is too pat, the storyline too contrived and the ending too surreal. This film was too important for it to go so wrong. It is understood that War movies are not collecting the audiences, but this kind of film will not help.

"The dispiriting cold truth is that the post-9/11 films we've seen so far have struggled, in any real sense, to enter the national bloodstream, the collective conversation. Which raises the question: These days, when a message movie falls in the forest, does it make a sound?" Own Glieberman

Recommended for the subject matter. 02-27-08

Sophie's Choice

Just Like Heaven (Widescreen Edition)

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Good story idea

The special features documentary is worth watching and would get 4.5 stars from me. This was the best part of the film because it gave credulity to the movie.

An Egyptian American chemical engineer returns from Africa after getting a hangup on his cell from a known terrorist. This is flimsy premise for the story whereas the chemical engineering angle was more plausible but not developed fully as a realistic connection. As soon as he arrives in the States, he is returned to Africa where he is tortured, so a man, who cannot find his daughter who's dating a martyr-to-be, can locate the terrorist who supposedly called the Egyptian American. The sub-plot of young girl dating the terrorist is good but when it's finally brought together at the end, which is also the beginning of the movie, it just adds more questions instead of tying all the pieces together. Overall the story idea is a good one but the story telling was often confusing because of flashbacks and not smoothly transitioning to various POVs in disparate locales.

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Rendition Movie Review

A distressingly realistic film that unveils the horrors of terrorism and what governments do to get to the roots of evil, Rendition suffers from the fact that reality doesn't always equal entertainment. Incredibly powerful performances and well-developed characters evoke sympathy for two hours, but wholehearted satisfaction mysteriously eludes the film.

Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally) is captured by the FBI and interrogated for suspected terrorist activities. When the initial investigation leads nowhere, he is shipped out of the US in a process called "extraordinary rendition" to be further questioned by considerably more brutal methods. Meanwhile, his wife Isabella (Reese Witherspoon) pleads with longtime friend Alan Smith (Peter Sarsgaard) to help locate her missing husband. In South Africa, where Anwar is being held, investigations of a bombing that killed a US agent leads Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) to observe the inhuman treatment of terrorist prisoners, and to battle with the idea of sacrificing an innocent life in the remote chance that it will save others.

Rendition examines the lengths people will go to seek justice. It also examines what forms of justice people seek, and the oftentimes detrimental effect it has on innocent bystanders. Douglas must weigh his own conscience against the horrific torturing of Anwar, who only possesses the possibility of information, and disobeying his superiors. Alan weighs his conscience against doing what he believes to be right, and the importance of his career. Almost everyone else in the film faces mental turmoil, including Alan Arkin as Senator Hawkins, who has much less sympathy for Isabella, and Meryl Streep as Corrine Whitman who chooses to ignore the suffering of others due to her paranoid decision-making.

Rendition suffers from too many stories and a bizarre time shift that unexpectedly confuses the audience. Similar to 2006's Babel, Rendition includes too many characters and too many subplots. Douglas's storyline, involving an unnecessary love interest, is connected to Abasi Fawal, who oversees the violent torture of terrorist suspects. Isabella deals with the disappearance of her husband and tracking down those responsible, and Abasi's daughter Fatima runs away from home to protest her arranged marriage, falling into the arms of a Jihad terrorist who likewise has mixed feelings about his purpose and beliefs.

The film's biggest highlight is the superb acting from nearly all of its major players. Witherspoon is exceptional as the devoted and tear-inducing mother who has the added sympathy factor of a troubled young child and a pregnancy. Gyllenhaal is interesting to watch, although a little static with his performance and Metwally does a great job of being tortured for two hours. Streep, Arkin and Sarsgaard actually turn in even more memorable performances due to their strong personalities and commanding presence. With a confusingly ill-placed time jump near the conclusion, and a disturbing story fused with phenomenal acting, Rendition hints at Academy Award worthy performances as well as that the CIA can learn a thing or two from Google.

- Mike Massie

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